Fashion Protection Never Goes Out of Style

What is more uncomfortable than arriving at a meeting and finding someone wearing the same outfit as you? Seeing someone else manufacture your clothing without permission. The good news is that fashion is not left out in the open. The textile and design industry is part of the creative industries and the cultural and creative economy, and as such it can access intellectual property protection.

In Colombia that protection is built from four pieces. They do not compete with each other, they complement each other.

Copyright

The author owns their rights from the moment the idea is fixed in a material medium, with no need for registration. In fashion, creations are protected as works of applied art when they meet three conditions: that they are an artistic creation, that they have a utilitarian function or are incorporated into a useful article, and that their production is handcrafted or industrial. An original print or a distinctive pattern usually enters through this route.

Trademark

Fashion houses, from Louis Vuitton and Prada to Silvia Tcherassi, invest as much in their image as in registering their trademark in every territory where they sell. The reason is simple: the recognition customers give the brand is what sustains sales. Trademark registration protects the distinctive sign, the name or the logo, for 10 years renewable indefinitely.

Industrial design

An industrial design protects the particular appearance of a product, as long as its function does not change. The print of a fabric, in its two-dimensional form, or the shape of a bag, in its three-dimensional form, can be protected through this route. The registration lasts 10 years counted from the application, with no renewal, so it pays to plan the timing of filing carefully.

Patents

When the advantage is not in how the garment looks but in how it is made, the route is the patent. A technical fabric, a new material, or a manufacturing process can be protected with an invention patent, the exclusive right the State grants over an invention for 20 years from the application. Here the aesthetic design is not protected, the technical innovation is.

How to combine the protection

Rarely does a single route suffice. A collection can have its name protected as a trademark, its prints as industrial design or copyright, and a special fabric as a patent. Choosing the right combination is what builds real protection to compete in a market that changes fast.

All these options aim for the same thing: to reward the intellectual effort captured in a fabric, a garment, or an accessory. At SPI Américas we have attorneys who specialize in protecting your company, your creation, or your innovation, and in helping you decide which route, or which mix of routes, suits each piece of your brand.